The Quintessence of the Impossible
by InfiniteFeather
Summary: Percy Jackson fell into tartarus during his quest for the Lightning Thief. Now, four years later, Kronos is leading the charge against Olympus while the gods are fighting Typhon and Annabeth is leading the defense. But how is the war possible when Nico, the next child of big three to come of age is still twelve? Do they have it all wrong?


**I've always wanted to read a fic about Percy falling into tartarus when on the quest for the lightning bolt. A while ago I managed to find two unfinished ones, which inspired me to write this. I have skipped the tartarus act itself though, only writing the end scene instead of a longer story.**

 **This was meant to be an epic fight scene. It became a 11 pages long emotional rollercoaster instead.**

 **Somehow it ended up being in Annabeth's POV as well. I have given up trying to figure it out, and just went with it.**

 **Still, I hope you all like it.**

 **I don't own anything recognizable. The characters, setting etc. all belong to Rick Riordan and his publisher. I don't make any money from this (though I could certainly use it).**

* * *

In the end she caught up to the king of the titans just as he was about to enter the throne room. She was surrounded by broken pieces of marble from the ruins that had once been temples and shrines for the gods. A stone hand, painted so it looked real skin, laid beside her, the rest of the statue now only a pile of white dust. The city was quiet, abandoned by everyone other than her and the would be twice usurper.

"Kronos," she shouted.

Normally she would never have been one to rush into things. She wasn't reckless like Thalia. She planned for every possible outcome, and then executed it to perfection like a child of her mother should.

At this moment there was no time for complicated plans; if the titan reached the thrones all would be lost.

Had someone gone with her, she might have been able to, but she was alone and so she had to improvise. Her friends counted on her.

Those who where still alive anyway.

Images from the battle filled her head; Thalia half buried under a statue of Hera after she had pushed Annabeth away so she wouldn't be crushed, of Grower commanding the wood nymphs and satyrs to a joined attack against the titan Hyperion, of Nico arriving with his father and an army of undead to fight the monsters after everyone thought he had abandoned them.

She had to trust them to still be alive when she arrived back (if she arrived back), just like they had trusted her to stop the titan king in destroying the thrones. Or at least delay him long enough for the gods to arrive.

And so she shouted at him in a last desperate attempt to stop his trail of destruction as she tried to catch up, her breath already coming short sue to the hours long battle against monsters that she had already endured.

Kronos turned around, a look of annoyance and disbelieve on his face, as if he couldn't believe that someone would dare to shout at him. Her breath caught in her throat as she saw his face.

Even after preparing for this war for years while fighting one skirmish after the other against him, it was still impossible to look at him and not see her old friend staring back at her; even though his blue eyes where now gold and his expression no longer warm and comforting when he looked at her.

A dark blur rammed into Kronos and knocked him off balance.

It was hard to decide who was the most surprised; the demigod or the titan.

The blur moved again and something bronze connected to Luke's skin, doing absolute nothing other than giving the titan the opportunity to gather himself and block the next swing with ease.

His attacker stepped back and Annabeth could finally get a good look at him.

Wild black locks framed a gaunt, angular face that was twisted in a hard lined expression. A few small scars marred his face, though nothing stood out like the long white scar that ran from behind his right ear halfway across his throat, as if someone had tried to butcher him, but was interrupted half way. Annabeth knew enough about injuries to know that he should still have bled out too quick for anyone to prevent his death, and yet here the man, (if that was what he truely was), was standing facing the titan-king head on like that was a normal occurrence. His sea green eyes so dark they were bordering on black, the colours swirling as if a real storm was brewing in them.

Wait. Sea green.

No, it couldn't be.

Besides; he looked too old, too weary, to be only fifteen. Or would he be sixteen now? She didn't know his birthday.

Stress and trauma makes people grow up faster. Four years in tartarus certainly qualifies as that. Should have give them PTSD and other phycological disorders at the very least, most likely drive them completely insane. If someone managed to survive; it was a prison made for monsters, titans and primordials, not mortals or demigods after all. Treatment would-

Shut up.

And it would explain why the prophecy said sixteen, though Nico was only twelve.

I said: shut up! This isn't important right now.

Her observation had barely lasted a second; on of the advantages of having a brain wired for combat.

The attacker had stepped back a bit to circle and observe his opponent, his sword ready and stance perfect to attack or defend at the slightest opportunity.

Lu- no Kronos looked at him in amusement. "Perseus," he said. "It's good to see you well." He sounded neither surprised nor worried that the supposed child of prophecy had escaped tartarus.

Annabeth couldn't say the same for herself. She clutched her dagger, unsure of how she could help, unsure if she should.

She didn't know the Percy in front of her. Had barely known him before tartarus.

Just because it looked like he was against the titans didn't mean he was with them. He could be fighting for his own agenda; probably did. She would be surprised if he harbored any love for the gods who let him fall.

Perseus (she would not call him Percy, because he wasn't anything like the naive, goofy and sarcastic boy that she had sort of unwillingly begun to look at as a friend) seemed to have enough of circling his opponent and attacked in a fluid of movement too fast for her eyes to catch and a skill that would have more than rivaled the Luke of old. This wasn't Luke though, but a mere shell of him, and Kronos had no problem countering or deflecting each strike and Perseus had to jump back and retreat more than once to avoid getting hit by the scythe.

One hit would be enough to sever his soul, the titan didn't even have to land a killing hit.

The next time Perseus jumped to attack he brought his hand up, palm facing the ground and the stone-path split under the titan with a loud CRACK. Kronos had to step slightly to the side to avoid falling into the newly created the rift and stepped right into Perseus' strike that would have decapitated him, had he not been invaluable.

She gave a small wince and had to remind herself again that this was no longer Luke, but Kronos, even though the person in front of her looked and sounded like her old friend. If you disregarded the golden eyes.

The air felt humid, and when she took a moment to glance up clouds seemed to gather above her even as a slight breeze began to blow. She hoped it was a sign that the gods had finally defeated Typhoon with Poseidon's help and were returning to Olympus.

The titan's short bark-like laugh made her turn her attention back to the fight. This time he moved much quicker; turning his scythe around to jab the hilt into Perseus' abdomen, knocking him to the ground in half a second flat.

Perseus grunted and stood up again, a bit unsteady on his feet and clutching his stomach with his left hand, his sword still pointed unwavering at the titan's heart.

"Not bad, grandson of mine. You would've made a fine addition to my army. A shame you turned down my offer."

Perseus' only answer was a glare and another jab that was pushed aside almost lazily by the titan.

A few more attacks were exchanged, Perseus easily switching from offense to defense and back, yet the titan was now slowing down time easily sidestepping the attacks and sometimes retaliating with a few jabs with the hilt of his scythe, most of which found their mark, while throwing the occasional taunt at the demigod or even correcting his stance or criticizing his strategies.

In the end Perseus was left breathing hard. When he stumbled back after another jab, the titan spoke up again. "Don't you tire of this?"

"Don't you ever stop talking?" Percy countered, his voice raspy and brittle, a sign of dehydration or of disuse. Maybe both.

The titan's amused expression turned hard, and Annabeth was suddenly reminded of Hades when the god thought they had stolen his helmet. Kronos' golden eyes held the same promise of a slow and painful death as the coal-eyes of his son had. A few cracks appeared in Kronos' skin and golden light began to shine through. He looked like he was going to burst any moment.

Annabeth took a step back, unwilling to leave her former friends behind, but well aware that the distance wasn't big enough not to instantly disintegrate should the titan manage to gain his true form.

She tried to calculate how the fight would go, who would move when and how; how much longer Perseus could hold him occupied before the titan tired of playing around and finally killed him. Yet there were to many unknowns; in reality she didn't know any of their abilities or limits, only that whatever skills Perseus had gotten in the pit would never be enough to best a titan.

The titan was immortal after all. Perseus, not so much.

A lightning bolt lit the sky up above them, and all of sudden Annabeth became aware of just how dark it had become; as if Apollo had decided to take the evening off and had already given the reigns to his twin sister. A thunderclap followed a second later, so loud that she was sure that she would become temporarily deaf by the sound-wave.

The titan had looked up as well, however Perseus seemed to focus on something completely else. From one moment to the next the ground rumbled once again, and this time a fountain of water rushed up and engulfed the titan just as water began to fall from above as well.

The storm wasn't the gods arriving, she realized, it was Perseus. The son of the storm-bringer, indeed.

It was like one of those monsoon storms; there were no warning drops, from one moment to the next a wall of water crashed into them and Annabeth was instantly soaked. It was so heavy that she had to shield her eyes from the down-poor just to barely make out the moving figures of Kronos and Perseus in front of her. They were once again engrossed in fighting, though Perseus seemed to move faster now. Still not as fast as the titan, but fast enough to keep most of the hits from grazing his skin.

One hit caught him on the arm though when he didn't jump back quick enough, and Annabeth was sure the fight was over then and there, yet they both continued unaffected.

He bears the Curse of Achilles as well. That shouldn't have been possible.

Something else registered then, taking her thoughts in yet another direction.

They both seemed to have forgotten her completely.

Not one to lose such a opportunity, she pulled out her cap that had luckily not fallen out of her pocket. Sending a quick prayer to her mother and Tyche, the goddess of luck, she put it on.

The downside of the heavy rain was that it would still be possible to spot her, even when invisible, as there would be a break in the rain where she would be standing, but as long as the titan didn't look too closely, she might just be able to surprise him.

She had already made a mental list of all possible places where Kronos mortal spot could be. The titan was anything but dumb, so it wouldn't be an easy spot to reach with a weapon; either protected by armor or at the very least not a spot where the enemy could accidentally hit him. Perseus had already hit him on the upper back and on the right side of his neck, though his back was protected by his chest plate so that didn't really count, thus leaving most of the possibilities still unexplored.

Striking now would mean giving up her slight advantage with a minimum chance of success. Waiting could very well end up with costing Perseus his life, and then it might be too late to act at all.

The wind was picking up again, and she had to stumble further back to avoid losing her balance. Keeping up with the fight was nearly impossible now, as she could only see their darks shapes whenever the sky was lit up by lightning, and the thunder and rain was so loud that the only other sound she could hear was the ringing in her head and her own harsh breathing.

The next gust of wind pushed her to down, and she stayed kneeling on the ground for a moment, her back turned towards the wind and rubble digging into her knees. She had never felt more out of her depth, literally, as she did now. Not even when the titan's army attacked through the labyrinth, or when she had stranded briefly on the Princess Andromeda with Beckendorf, even though she barely made it out alive at the last one. (Beckendorf hadn't been as lucky).

Yes, Kronos had played with them before; sending monsters to delay them while his real army was still forming, fighting her with his scythe instead of his power. She had wondered then whether it was purely confidence or if Luke was still in there somewhere. At the time she hadn't given much for optimism; thinking it foolish when theories based on facts made you live longer.

Even though she had known all that, she still never could have imagined what powers were simmering underneath the titan's mortal vessel. Powers he now used to slow down time; his golden glow now visible even from where she was kneeling. Never would she have imagined that a demigod could have held such power as Perseus was displaying either.

For the first time in the war she was truly afraid.

But she would not let fear rule her.

Her dagger was still clutched firmly in her hand, and though it seemed useless given the situation it gave her the strength she needed to push herself back up. Something warm filled her mind, and at once the rain didn't feel quite as cold anymore, her sight was just a bit clearer as she followed the fight through the downpour.

Suddenly, she remembered her conversation with Percy when they were sitting in the illegal animal transport. She had told him about her mortal family; her father, step-mother and her younger brothers. Had even promised him that she would fight at his side, even if her mother chose to side against Poseidon in the upcoming family feud.

She had trusted him then, and no matter what he had been through in tartarus; no matter what he had become there, she would trust him enough to help him defeat the titan king, even if it would end up costing her her life.

The winds were even stronger now, yet they were no longer trying to push her around; instead they were focused around the fight. Steadily growing in strength, building up to something more than just a normal storm.

She heard a roar over the howling winds and a figure went flying out of the storm and landed several hundred feet away.

At once the winds stopped and the rain died down to a light dizzle. Percy gave a loud groan. Assuring her that he was still very much alive, though not exactly well.

"Enough!" Kronos roared and strode towards his downed fiend, his scythe raised.

Annabeth had no doubt that he was done playing.

If she didn't do anything right this second both of her former friends would be gone, and the Western civilasiation would surly follow.

She ran after the titan and plunged her blade towards the his shoulder. Not because she thought she could do any damage, but to distract him long enough for Percy to recover.

Her plan worked better than she could have hoped for; sensing her attack the titan turned around to block her mad swipe. Yet even he couldn't see through the cap's magic and his retaliating strike soared over her head as she threw herself to the ground to roll away.

This came back to bite her though, when her cap fell of and she was suddenly visible again.

She got back on her feet and stared defiantly at the titan king, daring him to attack. She wasn't a damsel in distress that needed saving, she could make her own choices. And she would always choose to fight.

This was what she had trained for since she was seven.

As cliché as it sounded; she would hold her own or die trying, because if anything was worth dying for, preserving the western civilization and stopping the titans from ruling the world was pretty damn high on the list.

Her distraction had worked, and she could sense Percy walking up to stand beside her. Just like he had stood beside her during their quests together. A faint sense of longing towards old times brushed her mind, but that was as much as she let herself feel at that moment. Her mind needed to be clear of any emotion if she wanted to actually come up with a plan that didn't end up with them dying at Kronos' feet.

She had once told Percy that superior strength in battle wasn't everything; that it would still sometimes lose to a clever enough mind. And if they wanted to have a chance that definitely had to apply here.

Kronos wasn't stupid, his plan to rise from the pit proved that. But he was arrogant and prideful like his sons. He knew he was far above them, mere demigods, in both strength, power and experience. Was playing with his food, because the gods gone and their thrones unprotected. He did not need to hurry.

Maybe, if she was lucky she could use this against him somehow. Make him underestimate them.

"How cute," Kronos said with a chuckle, "trying to be all brave. You don't need to pretend for me, little humans, I can smell your fear."

"We don't fear you," she said, her voice even.

A lie; she was terrified. Yet she didn't allow this to cloud her mind. We just need to stall, she thought, the gods will be here any second now.

A second would be all it would take Kronos to smite them, but she counted on his arrogance to make him rub his victory in their faces.

The titan grinned at them, his teeth on full display. "Another lie." He practically purred.

"Not for me," Percy said from beside her and she nearly startled, having forgotten him for a moment. "I have seen worse."

The titan's golden eyes sent him a calculating glance. He had clearly sensed an opportunity. "Maybe," the titan admitted, "and yet you still protect the gods, though they let you rot in the deepest part of the pit, where even they fear to go, when you had done nothing to earn it." His voice had turned sad and smooth like velvet and even Annabeth had to mentally pinch herself to not listen to him. Chiron had once told her that Kronos power let him have the ability to charm others to follow him blindly; she hadn't truly believed the centaur before now.

She frowned. A moment before he had been ready to kill them both. What was the Crooked One playing at?

Percy somehow didn't look affected at all and snorted. "As if it wasn't you who got me to fall in the first place." His words were harsh and angry. She detected the slightest tremor at the word 'fall'.

Kronos clearly noticed as well. His eyes shimmered like drachmas catching the sunlight.

"They let you fall, Percy. Don't think they wouldn't have thrown you down there themselves, if you had managed to bring back the bolt." He gave the black-haired youth a rather convincing pitying look that together with his aura might even have gotten Annabeth to buy it, had he not currently been wearing the face of her old friend.

Luke, she couldn't help to think again. Was he truly still in there somewhere?

The titan stepped closer and Annabeth was sure he was using his powers over time again, because her own step back felt like she was walking through water. "Unlike me, they fear power," he continued. He crooked his head to one side, and Annabeth was reminded of Mrs. O'Leary right before the hellhound would pounce the shield, when Nico played 'Get the Greek' with her. "And unlike them, I am willing to show mercy. If you surrender now, I'll let you both live."

A lie, she thought, no way he would let us get away.

"Just lay down your weapons, and renounce the gods and this can all end with no blood spilled."

Another lie, she thought. But why-?

She finally turned to look at Percy. The demigod's gaze was glued to the titan, his eyes narrowed and mouth twisted in a light sneer.

The titan didn't let it stop him. "I can help you get revenge; against Hades for stealing your mother. Against Zeus for accusing you of theft and then sending monsters after you when you were just trying to help get his bolt back. Against your father, who sat back and let you and your mother be abused for years without lifting a finger. Against all of them, for not getting you out of the pit."

Annabeth had to admit that Kronos was right in one thing at least; Percy really did had a lot of reasons for going against the gods. And that was the whole point in this, she realized. Kronos wanted to chose the titans over the gods.

A single choice shall end his days. Olympus to preserve or raze.

Kronos thought this might be the choice. And he was doing everything to make sure it was in his favor.

"Wait-" she said as she turned her head to face him, but Percy interrupted her.

"To hades with the gods. Don't think for a second I care what happens to them!" He sneered, and Annabeth felt an iceberg forming in her stomach and the cold began to engulf her inside out. No no no, this can't be happening. A smile was growing on the titan's face, smelling victory, yet it was engulfed by anger when Percy continued. "But if you think for one moment that this means I will let you destroy the world, you're more stupid than Ares."

The titan turned cold again.

"Very well. So be it."

And then he attacked.

It happened so quickly that Annabeth didn't even react. Time stood still, and then Percy was lying on the ground, invisible bonds tying him down and preventing him moving as the titan began slicing and poking at him, trying to find the one spot that would kill him.

Percy's muscles was tensing as he tried to struggle against his bonds. Apparently, he was still able to talk as he shouted a string of curses when the titan tried to poke him in the eyes to no avail.

Under other circumstances it would have looked completely ridiculous.

Luke's face was turned into a crazed expression, the golden light leaking from his skin was now so bright that it nearly blinded her. No matter if Kronos found Percy's mortal spot or not, they would both disintegrate as soon as he took on his true form, and it looked like he could explode his mortal body any minute.

She once again wonder just what could have made her old friend do what he did. What had he been thinking agreeing to this? What promise of revenge could ever be worth this?

Luke, she thought for what had to be the hundred's time this war.

And then she knew what to do.

It was desperate and probably wouldn't work, but probably was better than certainly right now so she didn't hesitate.

"Luke!" she shouted, "You promised!"

A miracle. Golden eyes flickered blue.

A blink and they were back to their golden glow again. But she had seen it, and hope was born.

The titan turned his attention to her and away from his captive, though the bonds didn't lessen at all if Percy's continuing struggle was any indicator.

"Stupid girl," he hissed, "Luke is gone. I'm the only one here."

Then he raised his scythe, clearly done with her. She raised her own dagger, the one Luke had given her all those years ago. Hoping that this might help him regain control again, even if it wouldn't stop the blade.

His eyes flickered again, then he swung.

Her gaze caught Percy's in that second. The son of Poseidon wore a strange expression; the same blankness he had shown when he had first tackled the titan.

Kronos stumbled mid-swing and Annabeth took the chance to jump close and swing the handle of her dagger into the titan's right wrist, to make him drop his weapon.

She hadn't thought it would work.

Kronos spun around towards Percy, right hand at his throat, and she realized that he was chocking.

Percy was on his knees now, right hand stretched out towards the titan. His arm shook slightly.

All her senses where woking overdrive to tell her what was happening in front of her, yet for once the conscious part of her mind couldn't comprehend it and she was left staring in horror.

The titan made a slight gurgle.

A drop of red blood trickled out the corner of Luke's mouth; a reminder that though he had batched in the Styx and was currently harboring a titan, his body was still mortal.

His eyes flickered blue again, longer this time, as he fell to his knees. His nails were scrapping at his throat and he would have drawn blood had it not been for his curse. He was glaring at Percy, and had he been at full strength she had no doubt that the demigod would have been a pile of dust.

Percy's whole body was shaking now as he strained to hold the titan in place.

She somehow made her feet move, ran the last few meters towards them and kneeled before her choking friend. Ignoring the struggling demigod behind her, though every instinct was screaming at her to not turn her back to him and stab him instead, as if he had suddenly become a stronger threat than the titan king himself.

Luke's eyes flickered again. And this time they stayed blue.

For a moment she stared into them, at the pain, anger and anguish that filled them. A whole conversation seemed to happen in that second and she nodded at his silent plead.

Luke's right hand rose slowly, shaking all the while as he fought. Percy's control must have broken, at least partially, willingly or not.

He pointed at his left armpit, then let his arm fall to the side, exhausted. His eyes flickered gold again, and his body shuddered.

She nodded. She had understood.

Her hand around the hilt of her dagger was clammy with sweat as she tightened her grip, her mouth unusually dry, and she was sure that she was shaking just as much as Luke. Her senses were telling her a thousand things, that she didn't register. For once her mind was completely quiet.

She met her friend's gaze one last time. His pale blue eyes were flecked with blue, but he stayed in control.

Then she closed her eyes and stabbed.

* * *

Everything was still. A lone tear rolled down her cheek and she didn't bother swiping it away. She wasn't ashamed of mourning her friend.

They had walked a little father down the path; away from the throne room and away from him.

She could still not comprehend that he was truly standing beside her.

A thousand questions were swirling in her head. She wasn't sure if she wanted the answer to most of them. How did you survive? When did you get out? How did you get the Curse of Achilles without your mother's blessing. How did you know where to be today? How are you still sane?

She still wasn't sure if he really was completely sane. The fight would suggest he wasn't.

One question seemed more important than the others though.

"How did you get out?"

He looked her right in the eyes, and she had the urge to shiver. A storm was once again churning in them; he truly resembled his father at that moment. A stray thought whispered that he hadn't actually met his father yet, which again let to the question of his allegiance.

From what he had told Kronos he didn't care much for the gods.

"I had help." His tone clearly indicated that she shouldn't ask anymore.

She ignored it. "From the gods?" She knew his answer before he said it.

"No."

She took note of the bitterness dripping from that one word. He definitely blamed the gods for the pit. This time she didn't ask him to elaborate.

They stood in silence for a while. How long she wasn't sure, probably just a few minutes though it felt much longer. She refused to look at him again, afraid of what memories it would trigger. Instead she gazed towards the horizon where New York was slowly waking up from its slumber to a city in ruin.

Olympus hadn't escaped either; everywhere were smashed statues of gods and goddesses that Kronos had destroyed on his way to the thrones. She could barely make out the entrance from the elevator far below her, where Thalia was still trapped somewhere under the statue of Hera and where Ethan Nakamura had fallen to his death, after he had turned on Kronos and literally tried to stab him in the back.

She should probably have been running down to help her friend the second the fighting was over.

Her feet didn't move. Instead she watched.

A long crack ran through the garden, small mud-puddles still surrounding it, though they were slowly drying in the evening rays.

The sky was turning from yellow to an orange-red, resembling the blood that had been spilt earlier that day. Black silhouettes, no bigger than dots, appeared.

The gods were finally arriving.

They would probably come down blazing, expecting a battle field and instead finding a soaked daughter of Athena and a dead man walking.

"Please, don't say anything about …" Percy said in a small voice very unlike his earlier words and gestured with his hand at their surroundings. His eyes were back to the lighter shade of sea-green she remembered. Something vulnerable, almost broken, hiding in them, and suddenly she could again see the twelve-year old boy she had gotten to know all those years ago.

Somehow, against all odds, he is still in there. Some of him at least.

For one moment she didn't understand, then she remembered the last few moments of the fight. What he had done, what powers he possessed. If they gods knew …

She nodded. "I promise." She didn't add 'on the styx' wanting the option to remain even if she didn't think she would use it.

He didn't seem to mind. He gave her a small smile.

It was a far cry from the goofy grin she remembered. Maybe it would take years until he would be that carefree again. Maybe he never would be.

That was alright.

They had won; they had fought the King of the Titans and had won. They could come through whatever horrors he had faced down in tartarus as well. She would get to know him again. For real this time.

They were demigods; half god half mortal. They were the quintessence of the impossible.

Whatever the fates had planned for them, they would see it to the end.

* * *

 **Sorry for the mistakes. This is self edited and English is not my first language.**

 **This is my first try of writing something in this fandom, so you could see it was a character study as well. Constructive criticism is always welcome and appreciated, and I'm open for discussion about my choices.**

 **This will remain an one-shot though.**

 **Thanks for reading.**


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